The beauty of Volume 2 is that all of the moves mentioned above --Kick Pass, Be the Oop, Off the Heezay, Back 2 Papa-- can be used in combination with the standard trick system off turbo(s) + trick button to create some remarkable plays. You can go off someone's Heezay on an alley oop by skipping a pass off a defender's head to a teammate soaring near the basket. You can use Back 2 Papa to get the ball to bounce a pass off the backboard to a teammate on the other side of the court when you and him are positioned on opposite wings. Kick Pass to an alley oop? No problem. Since all of your trick combos end with a score of some kind, the game encourages you to pull off as many tricks, with as much risk and variety as you dare. Finishing off with the most impressive dunk or shot you can come up with is the best way to fill up your Gamebreaker meter and rack up those trick points for posterity.

The new Gamebreaker system allows for some options once you've filled your meter. You can pull of a high percentage Gamebreaker move that's identical to what we saw in the original NBA Street where you add a point or two to your total and subtract one or two from your opponent's score. You can sacrifice your own Gamebreaker in order to erase your opponent's full Gamebreaker meter, leaving you both with nothing and a score that stays unchanged. Or you can pocket your Gamebreaker in hopes that you'll be able to build up another full GB meter and use both of them at once for a Level 2 Gamebreaker.

Since using a Level 1 Gamebreaker carries the same risks and rewards as in the original game, this means you can still be blocked or otherwise thwarted in your attempt to blow the game wide open. The Level 2 Gamebreaker, however....oh my. It's unblockable and unleashes a yellow tinted mini-cutscene of your players pulling off some Harlem Globetrotters-type antics before scoring on a dunk or outside shot. Inside the 3 point line you're getting 2 points added to your score and subtracting 3 from your enemy's score. Outside the arc, you're taking away an extra point from your opponent. The potential for a six point swing means no lead is safe and makes defense --the toughest aspect of the game-- even more important.

So in addition to all of the special moves and Gamebreakers out there waiting to humiliate you, there's still a scoreboard to worry about in Street Vol. 2 since it is all about winning. Exploiting matchups in any game can make a huge difference since the AI is good enough to always have a defender on a each offensive player, but not good enough to keep a big man on a big man if you as a human player do something to disrupt that logic. Similarly when choosing your three players to take into a game, it makes sense to watch who your opponent uses. Going with three seven footers or three little guys yields the expected advantages and disadvantages but victory is always possible as long as you play to your strengths. A team of Shaquille O'Neal, Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming will probably have the rock stolen a lot and won't get you to many steals but you will own the skies with plenty of blocks and rebounds. One truism of NBA Street is that anybody can score once they get the hang of things, but wins and losses will be determined by defense, just like real life. Defense wins championships in the NBA and it negates all razzle dazzle on the playground as well. The emphasis is on flashy fun in Street 2, but serious hoop fans will be able to pickup and appreciate some of the subtle undertones of fundamental basketball that hold the game together.

Graphics

Fast and intricate animations make NBA Street 2 look like the champion that it is. The character models are decent and look progressively better as you move from PS2 to GC to Xbox, but it's the way they move that brings it all together. The real world basketball environments are a delight to anybody that's seen them firsthand, and impressive for casual basketball fans who will appreciate the great textures and lighting.

Since every special move in the game has its own name, it's a great idea that we can recognize them all at a glance. Going Off the Heezay comes with a tasty hip hop sound effect, but being able to see your guy use his dribble animation at angle that sends it off the defenders forehead, and then see that defender's neck snap back is why you'll love it. Doctor J's "The Doctor" special dunk looks a lot like Clyde Drexler's "The Glide" special dunk, but the position of the legs is what makes the difference. Unlocking Jordan's dunk move gives you stylized version of his '88 Slam Dunk competition winner when he took off from the free throw line before extending that extra hair to put a little funk on the ball as he jammed it through the hoop. Nailing the special dunks was crucial with all of the big names featured in the game and they're the best indication of how detailed the animation is in Street 2.